HIV Drug Resistance, Monitoring and Transmission Rami Kantor, MD SUMMARY My career passions have always been mentoring in and conducting HIV-related patient oriented research. I?ve developed a multidisciplinary research portfolio, combining patient care with clinical, laboratory and bioinformatics translational research, in national and international settings. This diverse range will provide the basis for this Mid-Career Investigator award, and will offer plenty of opportunities for mentoring and research. I have mentored numerous trainees at various stages and settings, including post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty, which resulted in presentations, publications, grant productivity and career developments. My research focus has always been HIV in adults and children, specifically focused on drug resistance, treatment monitoring and transmission. My two current R01s, my laboratory, the Providence-Boston Center for AIDS Research, the very strong institutional commitment, and the outstanding infrastructures at Brown University and its affiliated hospitals, including federally funded training Programs and Centers, will all serve as strong sources, resources and foundation for this K24, and will provide exceptional capacity and a multidisciplinary platform for mentees. Building on my research expertise and current R01 funding, the Research Specific Aims of this K24 are to (1) Investigate HIV drug resistance and its global impact (supported by R01AI108441); (2) Optimize treatment monitoring of HIV-infected patients (supported by R01AI120792); and (3) Use phylogenetic inference to halt HIV transmission (supported by this K24). The Mentoring Specific Aim of this K24, that will accompany all research Aims, is to mentor new investigators in multidisciplinary patient oriented research. I will accomplish these Aims by recruiting passionate, committed and potent individuals from the rich local infrastructure, and using my diverse research portfolio to develop specific and individual mentoring plans for them to match their short and long-term goals. Based on specific projects on HIV drug resistance, monitoring and transmission, mentees will receive training on topics like generation of research ideas, obtaining funding and human subjects approvals, study and protocol design, staff recruitment and training, patient enrollment, sample collection, laboratory assays and experiments, and data analysis, presentation and dissemination. This K24 will provide 50% of my salary and additional funds to support mentees? research, as well as protected time for my own development towards becoming a better researcher and mentor. Augmented by my own, continuous, immediately available NIH-funded research support and institutional funds, this K24 will support me to increase the pool of well-trained clinical researchers of the future and to mentor a new generation of junior investigators in HIV related patient oriented research towards their independence.